Part of the Job
by fandombloggingaddict
Summary: Hardison makes a mistake on a con and Eliot's caught and interrogated. Parker gets tired of everyone standing around waiting for something to happen and takes matters into her own hands to retrieve the retrieval specialist. Rated T for indirect descriptions of torture.


Hardison had turned down the comms so that everyone could focus on their roles. He was focused on monitoring the security cameras and local scanner feeds, but something caught his eye after a while. It was the screen featuring the comm audioscapes. Sophie's was normal, steady with smooth talk and sometimes leaping with the melody of polite laughter. Nate's was occasionally active with chatter as he had to blend in with the crowd to keep an eye on the con. Parker's was completely still as she was honed in on sneaking through the empty offices silently. And Eliot's was often silent, unless he was knocking out a goon. But there was a spike on his 'scape, and then another. The blue ripples of sound were what had made a small flash, so Hardison turned up the volume.

He heard some grunts, then a yell. Someone was talking, and then there was a more strangled cry.

The hacker's eyes widened and he leaned forward. "Eliot." There was a sharp intake of breath over the comm. "Eliot, what's happening?" There was no response. Hardison turned up the volume even more and brought out the background audio, listening past the hitter's ragged breaths. Now, he could clearly hear footsteps, a pause, a voice. A stranger.

"I know you must have a team. Just think about whether a crew of criminals is worth dying for. Because that's exactly what's going to happen if that bleeding keeps up."

"I told you, I work alone." The growled words reminded Hardison of their first job as a team, and how long it had taken the hitter to get used to the team dynamics. He was pretty sure Eliot still didn't trust them. But the seemingly aloof guy cared about them, he knew that. The hacker thought of when they were about to jump a train to escape that anti-government militia and he'd asked the hitter about the bomb materials he'd noticed earlier. Eliot had been prepared to let a minor terrorist attack go down - he hadn't even let it slow him down - because the hitter was intent on getting him to safety.

"Bullshit." There was a shuffling sound and then a groan. Hardison turned down the volume just in time before there was a rough scream. That sound jerked him into action and he moved to his main screens, typing frantically and scanning the security feeds of the building. He had to find Eliot _now_. There was no way that Eliot Spencer, the most terrifyingly tough guy in his line of work, would make that sound unless he was in a world of pain.

"Nate! Nate, we gotta shut this down." He said a little loudly, trying not to freak out.

"What is it, Hardison?"

"It's Eliot, he's in trouble. I turned down the comms so y'all could focus but something happened and we didn't hear it and now-"

"Hardison, calm down. Where's Eliot?"

"I don't know! I can't find 'im. But I can hear him, and you _don't_ want to hear him. It's bad, Nate."

"Okay, I'm pulling the plug. Sophie, Parker, find a way out and meet at the van."

"No, wait, I think he's still in there somewhere. There wasn't enough time to move him. If we pull out now, they might..."

"Kill him," Nate finished.

"Yeah."

"Okay," Hardison could hear the cogs turning in the mastermind's head. "Okay. Hardison, you track the signal of his comm. Sophie, keep your cover. Parker, get out of there, we don't need you captured too."

There was another yell of pain, and this time they all heard it.

"I found him," The hacker declared a moment later. "He's in one of the back rooms, must've been doing a patrol check when they got 'im."

"How do we get him? He's the retrieval specialist," Sophie asked softly, hiding her words with a sip of champagne.

"I can't set off an alarm or send someone else that way, it might tip off the guys in there," Hardison said.

"Can I use my taser on them?" Parker asked, though she sounded like she'd much rather gut them.

"No, Parker. I know we all want to do something, but we're just going to have to wait. He can handle it."

They all stopped talking, even Sophie as she pretended to listen to another anecdote. They could hear the sound of something hitting flesh and it was clear that their hitter was being beaten. Each member of the team was frozen in place.

When the hits stopped, the men hurting Eliot told him that he was more trouble than he was worth. Everyone recognized the sound of a gun being cocked.

Not only did the team startle at the sound that could mean the loss of their friend, but Nate also realized that he didn't know where Parker had gone when he told her to abandon her position. At that exact moment, instead of the anticipated bang of a gun, they heard a door open and Parker yell as she shocked the gunman with her taser. And wouldn't you know, she had a second one handy. Hardison could tell by the duet of bad guys grunting as they collapsed in convulsions from her favorite weapon. She didn't let up in the electricity until she saw Eliot.

He was handcuffed to a radiator in the empty room, and she could see where he'd been shot, once in the shoulder and once in the gut. There was a lot of blood. Some of his fingers looked crooked, and there was a thin trail of blood running down his temple. He lifted his head and flashed a rare smile.

"I'd be the cavalry," She said before kneeling at his side to pick the locks binding his wrists.


End file.
